Behavior Change and Habit Formation: The Ignored Tools of Medicine

I spend a lot of my time thinking about ways to overcome illness and injury, boost health and happiness, and live a more vibrant and fulfilling life. One significant conclusion I’ve reached is that behavior change and habit formation are some of the most powerful tools we have. However, these tools are largely ignored by medicine and healthcare.

It is peculiar that we know how behavior changes like eating healthy, exercising more, reducing stress, and boosting creativity can improve our health in the short and long term, and yet most doctors spend their time treating symptoms rather than teaching these behaviors. While I have discussed previously how forming healthy habits can prevent and treat illness, the mainstream medical community continues to focus primarily on medications rather than actions.

Imagine if your doctor took the idea of using exercise as a treatment for depression to heart and prescribed actions instead of medications. Think about the amount of time and energy healthcare professionals spend researching drugs, prescribing medications, and ensuring that new drugs do not conflict with the ones patients are already taking. Now compare that to the amount of time your doctor spends teaching you how to optimize your home and work environments to build healthy habits. Has any doctor ever done this?

Instead of merely prescribing pills to treat symptoms, healthcare professionals should spend their time teaching patients how to act healthy. There are numerous simple tactics that can be used to make behavior change easier, sourced from fields like behavioral psychology and consumer research. For instance, changing the color of your plate to make it easier to eat more vegetables or using the phrase “I don’t” to resist temptation and stick to health goals for the long term are just two examples.

The problem lies in the fact that our medical system is spending an excessive amount of time and money treating symptoms and masking illnesses, while barely devoting any time to teaching people how to change their behaviors and build better habits. There is a shocking amount of unnecessary medical treatment going on, with orthopedic surgeons admitting that 24% of the tests they ordered were medically unnecessary. Additionally, the rate of doctor’s visits leading to more than five medications being prescribed has more than tripled in the last five years. This unnecessary treatment stems from doctors feeling pressured to do “something” for patients, resulting in the ordering of drugs and procedures that neither harm nor help significantly.

While it is important to acknowledge that surgery, prescription drugs, and medical treatments do work and save lives, behavior change can be just as effective in many cases. Furthermore, behavior change is often less expensive and more empowering in the long run. Integrative medicine, which combines the best scientifically backed ideas from all fields, could be the answer. Research has already demonstrated that behavior change can lead to equivalent or better outcomes than medication for many illnesses.

A balanced approach that integrates medication for short-term results and behavior change for long-term results seems logical. Instead of focusing so heavily on medications and treatments, our healthcare system should prioritize teaching people how to implement lifestyle changes. This combination can lead to better outcomes and lower costs for everyone involved.

Research proves the efficacy of behavior change, and various psychological tools make these changes easier to achieve. It is time to set a higher standard in health and medicine by integrating scientifically proven behavior changes rather than defaulting to prescriptions or unnecessary procedures. If behavior change works, why aren’t doctors teaching it to their patients?

In conclusion, building habits and implementing behavior change should be at the forefront of medical practice. By prioritizing these tools, doctors can empower patients to take control of their health and well-being. It is time for medicine and healthcare to recognize the power of behavior change and make it an essential part of treatment plans.